In the last GarageBand tutorial we looked at recording the individual tracks. Now that I’ve got all my tracks down, I need to work on the mix to develop a pleasing song.
Below is how I do it, in step order. It’s worth noting that that isn’t the definitive way to mix songs in GarageBand or any other DAW. In fact, it’s a reasonably rough and ready approach designed to produce quick results. However, this is the beauty of GarageBand: because we can use preset effects by defining our real instruments in the track info pane (see GarageBand tutorial 4), many of the initial effects are already in place for us - we just need to adjust them to come up with a result we like. If you’re brand new to recording and mixing, you can get great results very quickly with GarageBand.
Our first few steps are all about sorting out what professional music producers call the ’stereo image’. The whole point of stereo mixing is that we can move tracks to the left or right between the speakers, and give the impression of distance and proximity using reverb and other effects. Rather than all the sound appearing to come from a single point (as in mono mixing) we can create the illusion of a sound spread out in a natural way, as it would be if a live band were playing. You’ll ofter hear recorders and engineers talking about positioning different tracks in the ’sound space’ or ’space’. So…
1. First we need to look at the pan controls on the mixer strips, so we can position each track on the left-right stereo axis. The circular knobs can be clicked and dragged round (they can be a bit fiddly) to move each track left or right.
GarageBand track mixer strips, with pan controls
In essence, all the pan control does is govern how much sound from each track comes out of each speaker: pan a track a little way to the left, and more volume will come out of the left hand speaker - though it will still be present in the right hand speaker. In the listener’s mind, the track has ‘moved’ a bit to the left. Pan it entirely to the right and all the track’s sound will come out of the right hand speaker: the listening will hear that instrument all the way over to the left of the mix.
2. As we have only a few tracks (a small ‘band’) we don’t want to spread them out too far. I’m panning the bass a little to the left and the piano a little to the right. The drums and the vocal I’m leaving in the middle.
3. Next up we need to sort out the track levels - bear in mind that we’ll probably come back and fiddle with these a bit later on. Stuff to bear in mind here: it’s a song, so the vocals ideally need to lead. I’ve boosted them so they are dominant. The drums, on the other hand, I’ve taken down a bit so they’re not too overpowering.
4. Now for some basic reverb. You can see the effects levels, including reverb, on every track by selecting it, calling GarageBand’s track info pane (Apple-I) and drilling down the ‘details’ tab at the bottom. The track details should appear:
Details section of track info pane
In this set of tools you can control the levels of existing effects and add extra ones by ticking the boxes next to the unused drop down menus and choosing the effect you want.
5. Reverb can create very particular effects on a whole song. However, it’s basic effect in a stereo mix is to move a track ‘forwards’ or ‘back’ in the sound space (in the same way that panning moves it left or right). Go easy on the reverb - when applying any effect to a track or mix it’s best to be subtle, but leaning on the reverb slider is a particular common problem. It can be especially tempting to use reverb to drown out mistakes on tracks. In this situation, you’ll get a far better end result by retaking the track. Don’t forget that even though you’re in the middle of the mix, there’s nothing to stop you doing extra takes of any of your tracks if you’re discover you’re not happy with them or they don’t sit well for one reason or another.
6. Because we’re using GarageBand software instruments and live instrument presets (rather than ‘basic tracks’) each track already has a little bit of reverb. I’m going to tweak the settings a bit: the main things I’m doing is adding a little bit to bass, piano and drums to push them ‘behind’ the vocals. The drums are getting the most (though still not loads) to push them to the ‘back’.
7. There are quite a few other things we could do, such as add compression and various other effects. For now, the only thing I’m going to do is work on the EQ of the drums a bit - I want to reduce the ‘thuddiness’ of the bass drum and bring out the hi-hat a little bit. I do that by selecting the drum loop track and calling up the track details.
8. Next, I make sure the Visual EQ slot is checked, then click the little pencil on the far right, past the drop-down menu. That brings up the visual EQ box for the drums:
Visual EQ in GarageBand
9. I click the ‘analyzer’ checkbox in the bottom right hand corner so I can see where the different sounds from the software kit are coming from in the spectrum. Muting the other tracks, I run the drums.
10. I find the peaks representing the bass drum and the hi hat, and boost the middle line over the latter and reduce it over the former. Again, this is all about being subtle. If you need some extra guidance, check out our posts on EQ.
OK, so now I’ve got a mix I’m more or less happy with. In the next GarageBand tutorial, I’m going to look at mastering and sharing the track.
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